Ammon

Ammon (ămˈən) [key], in the Bible, people living E of the Dead Sea. Their capital was Rabbath-Ammon, the present-day Amman (Jordan). Their god was Milcom, to whom Solomon built an altar. A Semitic people, they flourished from the 13th cent. B.C. to the 8th cent. B.C. and were then absorbed by the Arabs. Excavations in Jordan show that they had a highly developed kingdom. They were hostile to the Hebrews, to whom they were related. The ancestor for whom they were named was Lot's son Ben-Ammi.